It was about five in the afternoon. In Babylon this time
of year the sun and heat are intense. The day is June 11th, 323 BCE.

Alexander the Great just died.

He was only 32 years old. In his short
life he conquered an empire
stretching from modern Albania to eastern Pakistan. The question of
what, or who, killed the Macedonian king has never been answered
successfully. Today new theories are heating up one of history’s
longest-running cold cases. Was it murder?

Like the death of Stalin, to which it is sometimes
compared, the death of Alexander poses a mystery that is perhaps
insoluble but nonetheless irresistible. Conspiracy buffs have been
speculating about it since before the king’s body was cold, but
recently there has been an extraordinary number of new accusers and
new suspects. Fuel was added to the fire by Oliver Stone’sAlexander,
released in 2004 with new versions in 2006 and 2008: a film that,
whatever its artistic flaws, presents a historically informed theory
about who killed Alexander and why.

Few events have been as unexpected as the death of
Alexander. The king had shown fantastic reserves of strength during
his 12-year campaign through Asia, enduring severe hardships and
taking on strenuous combat roles. Some had come to think of him as
divine, an idea fostered, and perhaps entertained, by Alexander
himself. In 325, fighting almost single-handed against South Asian
warriors, Alexander had one of his lungs pierced by an arrow, yet
soon afterwards he made the most arduous of his military marches, a
60-day trek along the barren coast of southern Iran.

Consequently, when the king fell gravely ill and died
two years later, the shock felt by his 50,000-strong army was
intense. So was the confusion about who would next lead it, for
Alexander had made no plans for succession and had as yet produced
no legitimate heir (though one would be born shortly after his
death). The sudden demise of such a commanding figure would indeed
turn out to be a catastrophic turning point, the start of a
half-century of instability and strife known today as the Wars of
the Successors.

Events of such magnitude inevitably prompt a search
for causes. It is disturbing to think that blind chance – a drink
from the wrong stream or a bite from the wrong mosquito – put the
ancient world on a perilous new course. An explanation that keeps
the change in human hands may in some ways be reassuring, even
though it involves a darker view of Alexander’s relations with his
Companions, the inner circle of friends and high-ranking officers
that surrounded him in Babylon.

Ancient historians have reached no consensus on the
cause of Alexander’s death, though many attribute it to disease. In
1996 Eugene Borza, a scholar specialising in ancient Macedon, took
part in a medical board of inquiry at the University of Maryland,
which reached a diagnosis of typhoid fever; Borza has since defended
that finding in print. Malaria, smallpox and leukaemia have also
been proposed, with alcoholism, infection from the lung wound and
grief – Alexander’s close friend Hephaestion had died some months
earlier – often seen as complicating factors. But some historians
are unwilling to identify a specific illness, or even to choose
between illness or murder: two Alexander experts who once made this
choice (one on each side) later changed their opinions to undecided.

With historical research at an impasse, Alexander
sleuths are reaching out for new ideas and new approaches. Armed
with reports from toxicologists and forensic pathologists and
delving themselves into criminal psychology, they are re-opening the
Alexander file as an ongoing murder investigation.

The idea that Alexander was murdered first gained
wider attention in 2004, thanks to the ending of Stone’s film. In
its epilogue Alexander’s senior general Ptolemy (played by Anthony
Hopkins), looking back over decades at his commander’s death,
declares: ‘The truth is, we did kill him. By silence, we consented …
Because we couldn’t go on.’ Ptolemy then instructs the alarmed
scribe recording his words to destroy what he has just written and
start again. ‘You shall write: He died of disease, and in weakened
condition.’

- See more at: http://www.historytoday.com/james-romm/who-killed-alexander-great#sthash.FfFv2glc.dpuf

Success comes in cans, failure in can'ts.-
Author Unknown

Opportunity is always knocking. The problem is that most people
have the self-doubt station in their head turned up way too loud to
hear it.- Brian Vaszily

Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.- Jackson Brown

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does
bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.- Zig Ziglar

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how
well you bounce.- Unknown

Game Time

The Ancient Greeks loved their games. You know that the
first Olympics in 776 BCE is all about competition between the Greek
city-states being played out on courts; fields, and tracks.

Note:
This site may be blocked in school because it's a "gaming site." Go use
the public wifi at the library, Starbucks, or at home to access these
sites if they are blocked at school. Top achieving students find a way
to get things done.

The Gordian Knot
In 333 BCE, Alexander
the Great, on his march through Anatolia, reached Gordium, the capital of Phrygia. There he was shown
the chariot of the ancient founder of the city, Gordius, with its yoke
lashed to the pole by means of an intricate knot with its end hidden.
According to tradition, this knot was to be untied only by the future
conqueror of Asia. In the popular account, probably invented as
appropriate to an impetuous warrior, Alexander sliced through the knot
with his sword, but, in earlier versions, he found the ends either by
cutting into the knot or by drawing out the pole. The phrase “cutting
the Gordian knot” has thus come to denote a bold solution to a
complicated problem. --The story according to
Encyclopedia Britannica online

There was a group of people that lived around 2700 years
ago. After a bit of moving around they eventually called Anatolia their
home. They had their own language and customs. They even had music. They
were, by all measures we use in this class, a civilization. We've come
to discover that every civilization has its own set of creation myths.
The story may actually be two creation myths squished together.

In Greek legend, the Gordian knot was the name given to
an intricate knot used by Gordius to secure an oxcart.See the
connection? Gordius and Gordian Knot. Gordius, who was a poor peasant,
traveled with his wife and arrived in a Phrygian public square in
an oxcart. A big time oracle in the Phrygian capital Telmissus had informed the populace that their future king
would come riding into town in a wagon. Gordius, the poor old fellow in
the oxcart, cruised through the city gates and fulfilled the prophecy. The people
remembered the oracle's prediction and made him king.
In gratitude, Gordius dedicated his oxcart to Zeus. Gordius, the King of
Phrygia, tyed the cart up with a
peculiar knot. What we have here is a long thick rope that's been
twisted and manipulated into a really big and ugly knot. A "Gordian Knot." The oracle foretold that he who untied the knot would rule
all of Asia.

Many people tried to undo the knot but all to no avail.
That was one tough knot. The knot stays tied to the yolk of the wagon
for decades. Then a new visitor arrived in town.

In 333 B.C. Alexander the Great had invaded Asia Minor
and arrived in the central mountains at the town of Gordium; he was 23
years old.
Undefeated, but without a decisive victory either, he was in need of an
omen to prove to his troops and his enemies that the outcome of his
mission - to conquer the known world - was possible.

In Gordium, by the Temple of the Zeus Basilica, was the
ox cart, which had been put there by the King of Phrygia over 100 years
before. The staves of the cart were tied together in a complex knot with
the ends tucked away inside.

Having arrived at Gordium it was inconceivable that the
young, impetuous King would not tackle the legendary "Gordian Knot".

Alexander climbed the hill and approached the cart as a
crowd of curious Macedonians and Phrygians gathered around. They watched
intently as Alexander struggled with the knot and became frustrated.

Alexander, stepping back, called out, "What does it
matter how I loose it?" With that, he drew his sword, and in one
powerful stroke severed the knot.

That night there was a huge electrical storm, which
Alexander's prophet Aristander conveniently interpreted to mean the gods were pleased with the
actions of this so-called Son of Zeus who had cut the Gordian knot.

All that is fine and good. But like an old dead fellow used to say,
there's a rest of the story...

Everyone has heard the story of Midas. Remember Midas? He's the
fellow that wanted the "golden touch." He got his wish. And then
discovered what a curse his wish could become. Midas is Gordius' son!

Gordian Knot
A piece of rope fashioned into a nearly impossible knot. This knot gave
its name to a proverbial term for a problem solvable only by bold
action.

Most Ancient Greeks wore a chiton, which was a long T-shirt made from
one large piece of cotton. The poor slaves, however, had to make do with
a loincloth (a small strip of cloth wrapped around the waist)!

Ancient Greek Top Ten List

What do Homer,
Plato, Socrates, Leonidas, Aristotle, and that fellow over to the left
that invented the screw and a way to figure out the weight of a gold
crown while sitting in a bathtub filled with water all have in common?

Did you know the Ancient Greeks invented the theater? They loved
watching plays. Most Greek cities had a theater – some big enough
to hold 15,000 people! Only men and boys were allowed to be
actors, and they wore masks, which showed the audience whether
their character was happy or sad. Some of the masks had two
sides, so the actor could turn them around to change the mood
for each scene. There was no television then.